A Street Performer’s Guideline

Performing on the streets of NYC is technically legal under the City of New York laws. The habit to busking in New York City has turned into a legal issue for most. There are many rules that underline what performers can do. The most important rules that generally apply to everyone include:

• No performing anywhere from 10pm to 8am

• To use sound, one must apply for a permit and pay up to $45 per day.

• To perform in a park, Applications must be filed at least three weeks in advance of your desired date, and cost $25 for up to a month of performances. In addition, one can only perform on designated “medallions” printed on the floor of parks, such as Union Square, Washington Square, and parts of Central Park, among the rest.

           Under Supreme Court law, “streets and parks are traditional public forums, places which “by long tradition or government fiat have been devoted to assembly or debate.” [Perry Education Association v. Perry Educators’ Association]” (Tanenbaum). This means that anyone can gather in streets and parks to perform live. As mentioned above, one has to apply for a permit if they want sound in the performance. Specifically, one must contact the Community Affairs Office in the precinct around that area in order to perform there. The permit costs $45 for the first day, and an extra $5 for each consecutive day within a five-day period. The volume cannot exceed 85 decibels at a distance of ten feet. This applies to both performing in parks and streets. Parks, however, have an added Special Events permit requirement which is $25 and must be 21-30 days in advance of the performance. This added requirement is required if the performance will exceed a crowd of 20 people or more and if the performers want to set up in a specific location. The Positive Brothers related their personal experience with the crowd and stressed how important it was to attract a crowd so they can make a decent income off their expenses from the audience.

           In addition to these legal concerns, there is a guide to proper etiquette concerning performances. Theo Eastwind, a member of the Music Under New York (MUNY) program, outlined this in his “10 Rules for Street Performers”. Amongst the principles are: one has to respect other performances and cannot perform if others are performing at that moment, no locations belong to anyone, it’s a first-come-first-serve basis, don’t hang around in a spot for too-long, and be polite to the audience. The Positive Brothers told us how important these principles meant to them. They would be extra cautious and not perform in spots where conflicts might arise amongst other performers and they would perform in a way that would get the crowd laughing and all excited while maintaining certain comfort boundaries in their jokes and stunts.

           The Positive Brothers told us that they pay income taxes on their performances. In reality, since they described it as their profession, they have to pay income taxes. New York Law requires that performers file a 1040 SE form and instead of an employer ID they use their Social Security number, known as an EIN number. In addition, performers need a 1099 MISC form since they do not have an employer. Since the Positive Brothers are a group, they need to file a 1065 as a whole group that splits its expenses.

           There are a lot of legal issues with performing and what needs to be documented, therefore the Positive Brothers make it their mission to accomplish all that to give the crowd a joyful, legal show.

Works Cited:

“Taxes 101: What Self-Employed Musicians Need to Know.” Jamie Davis-Ponce.

http://blog.sonicbids.com/taxes-101-what-self-employed-musicians-need-to-know

“A Guide for Street Performers.” Susie Tanenbaum. http://citylore.org/urban-culture/resources/street-performers/#performing

“Interview with Positive Brothers.” The Positive Brothers.